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Turning Point | Sermon for Candlemas

Candles that are lit, against a dark background

Sermon from St Edward’s Sun 2 Feb 2025. Readings: Luke 2:22-40; Malachi 3:1-5 ; Hebrews 2:14-end

Well this one divided people, most people loved it, one very much did not. I reiterate though we must stand up and speak out..


As I mentioned earlier, this is the feast of Candlemas, the presentation of the Lord, the last celebration of Christmas if you like, as we turn to look towards Easter, reflecting that in this encounter Jesus is revealed as the longed for Messiah. Simeon calls Jesus a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel – ie: a light for the world. A line Jesus takes for himself as we read in John 8:12

 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life

And it is no coincidence that we celebrate this feast at a time when we are turning from the darkness of winter, the days are now noticeably lighter aren’t they? Yesterday was St Brigid’s day and Imbolc, both marking the start of Spring.

This is a season of light, but also a season about turning.


Firstly it’s a turning point in our worship as we turn from Christmas toward the coming of Easter. In the temple Jesus is revealed as the Messiah by both Simeon and Anna, if you remember Epiphany tide is a season of revelation. Simeon was shown by the Holy Spirit  that v 26: that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah and now he says to God (v29-32)

Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel

And he says to Mary and Joseph (v 34-35)

This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed  so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.

Anna, the prophet, she too praised God and spoke about Jesus to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. So they point us to the future of Jesus’ life. In this we move from the infant Jesus, just a baby being presented in the temple as the law required, towards the salvation he will bring for all people.

So we turn from Christmas towards Easter and of course in the meantime we have Lent, a season of repentance, waiting and reflection. We know that Simeon has waited many years to see the Messiah, he has waited on the promptings of the HS, reflecting on what he has been shown. In Lent we too wait, we reflect and we repent. We start Lent with Ash Wednesday where we are ashed, a symbol of repentance, of turning from sin, from dark to light, impurity to holiness. 


In our Luke reading we heard that Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the temple, as the law taught them to, 40 days after his birth. For Mary to be purified after the birth (which might seem quite offensive now that just because she had given birth she was impure, but that was according to the Jewish laws of the day. And it might seem like an ancient practice but the ‘churching of women’ which followed on from this in the western church, is still a practice available to new mums in the CofE although thankfully doesn’t happen very often!

In Jewish culture it was customary for the child to be brought to the temple by its parents, to be blessed and for the mother to be purified, and we read, 2:23

as it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord’

And they offered sacrifice on his behalf as per the law in Leviticus 12:6-7
When the days of her purification are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb in its first year for a burnt-offering, and a pigeon or a turtle-dove for a sin-offering. He shall offer it before the Lord, and make atonement on her behalf; then she shall be clean from her flow of blood. 

This too is a turning point in their lives as a family, normal life to be resumed, Mary as pure can go out and about now in freedom rather than being ‘unclean’. And the child Jesus is revealed again as God’s son. In fact the phrase where Simeon says let your servant depart in peace (which as many of you wll recognisie from that wonderul prayer the Nunc Dimitis which we say at Compline). Actually the meaning is more in the form of release like a slave being released, liberation. And liberation draws us closer to God.


Our Malachi passage talks of the need to be pure and holy, that one day God will come in judgement. And before that we will be refined as if in a fire. To purify gold or silver it is heated to such a temperature that it melts and any impurities rise to the top and can be skimmed off leaving only the precious metal behind. Likewise Fullers soap was an ancient soap used to whiten clothes. It was added to a wash the clothes trodden to work it ino the cloth and for the dirt to be removed. Both practices are harsh and require heat and agitation but the result is cleansing and purity.

Malachi says the people will be refined until purified and until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. And we are offered that cleansing still when we repent – when we turn away from darkness and turn towards the light.  Reptenance comes from the greek word Metanoia which  literally means to turn away or to change one’s mind.


And this Lent, when it comes in a month or so’s time, I really want us to reflect on what we are turning away from and to. Jesus’ death on the cross means we can find freedom and purity, holiness. But we have a choice to be refined, to seek to be righteous, to repent. Malachi tells us a few of the things we wil be judged for:

Sorcery, adultery, lying, opression of the poor, the widow and the oprhan, those who reject the foreigner, those who do not follow God.

Essentially – Love God, love your neighbour.

It is so important in the climate we are living in to remember the heart of the gospel. To love God and to love one another. To be filled with grace and mercy. To be righteous. We live in worrying times and I think for many of us we are weary of the rhetoric, the posturing, the lies, the safeguarding failures and so on. But we cannot be silent. We have a choice what we turn to and what we turn from.

Malachi spells it out right here: Truth. Looking out for the poor and those in need. Looking out for those different than us or from other nations. And following God. We will be judged on these things specifically. We must be prepared to speak out and stand up for those worse off than otherselves, different than ourselves. 

I am not going to get too politcial but as one example of all that is happening right now I am incredibly concerned for trans people in the USA. In one week federal agenices have been told to refuse to accept those who wish to change gender, trans people excluded from safe bathrooms, excluded from the military, and have various rights being taken away. 

As many of you will know Holocaust Memorial day was this week. A day when we remember the absolute horrors of the genoide against Jews at the direction of Hitler in the 2nd WW. You have probably heard the famous poem by Pastor Martin Nielmoller. A  German Lutheran pastor he was initially nationalistic and a supporter of Hitler, until he had his own turning point. And he lived with deep regret that he had not done more to help those who were vcitims of the Nazis. He wrote the poem, ‘first they came for…’

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist


it finishes…
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me

Those words feel as relevant now as they were when he penned them in 1946. The Bible tells us we will be judged for our actions, and I would add, our inactions.

In this moment of turning, I remind us all that as people of faith, no matter our politcial opionions, we must seek to be righteous just like Simeon was. And to be led by the Spirit like he was. We must be people of mercy and compassion as Jesus was. We must not turn away when we are fearful or concerned but turn towards those in need.  We must accept and admit our wrong doings and turn towards Christ. Towards the light and way from the darkness.

Amen

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